Question 1

Ivan reported a traumatic history with dogs,resulting in his fear of dogs.However,Sven also reported a traumatic history with dogs,but does not have a fear of dogs.This provides support for

Accepted Answer

A diathesis for phobia suggests that some individuals are more susceptible to developing phobias than others due to underlying factors (such as genetic predisposition or personality traits). The difference in reactions between Ivan and Sven supports this idea, as it implies that a traumatic experience alone is not sufficient to cause a phobia; there must also be a predisposition.

Question 2

Which of the following has NOT been proposed as a way that the development of anxiety through conditioning could take place?

Accepted Answer

Repressed memories are not a commonly proposed way that anxiety develops through conditioning. Direct experience, seeing someone else harmed, and verbal instruction are all proposed ways that anxiety can develop through classical conditioning.

Question 3

Why is avoidance behavior so often maintained?

Accepted Answer

Avoidance behavior is often maintained because it provides temporary relief from fear and anxiety. When someone avoids the object or situation that triggers their fear, there is less opportunity for them to experience fear or anxiety. This reinforcement can make the avoidance behavior persistent and difficult to overcome.

Question 4

Classical conditioning of panic attacks in response to bodily sensations is called

Accepted Answer

Classical conditioning of panic attacks in response to bodily sensations is specifically referred to as interoceptive conditioning. Option B (systematic desensitization) is a type of behavior therapy used to reduce anxiety and phobias through gradual exposure to the feared object or situation. Option C (two-factor model) is a theory of anxiety that combines classical and operant conditioning to explain how anxiety disorders develop and are maintained. Option D (exposure) is a type of therapy that involves gradually exposing the individual to the feared object or situation in a controlled setting in order to reduce anxiety. While exposure therapy can be used to treat panic disorder, it is not specific to the classical conditioning of panic attacks in response to bodily sensations.

Question 5

Regina has social anxiety disorder.Now,in an effort to overcome her social fear,she is awkward,frequently commits faux pas by avoiding eye contact and struggles to respond effectively when given compliments.This is an illustration of

Accepted Answer

Regina's struggles with social interactions, such as avoiding eye contact and difficulty responding to compliments, suggest a deficit in social skills. This is a common feature of social anxiety disorder, where individuals may lack the required social skills to navigate social situations effectively. Therefore, C - social skill deficits in social anxiety disorder- is the best answer.

A) This option suggests a biological factor contributing to social anxiety disorder, but there is no evidence in the scenario suggesting so. Thus, it is an incorrect choice.
B) Preparedness is a term that describes an innate tendency to fear certain stimuli, such as snakes or spiders, that may have been advantageous to humans' survival in the past. It is not applicable in this scenario, so it is an incorrect choice.
D) This option suggests a pattern of thought or perception that is biased towards negative or threatening information, which is commonly associated with anxiety disorders, but there is no indication of distorted or negative thinking patterns in Regina's behavior. Therefore, it is an incorrect choice.

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of a safety behavior?

Accepted Answer

Avoiding eye contact is a safety behavior as it is an action taken to reduce anxiety or fear in social situations, often preventing the individual from fully confronting the feared situation.

Question 7

The fear circuit that is particularly important in explaining panic disorder is called the

Accepted Answer

The locus coeruleus is a small nucleus in the brainstem that is involved in the regulation of arousal and attention. It is also involved in the fear response, and is thought to be particularly important in explaining panic disorder.

Question 8

There is evidence that social anxiety disorder is related to placing more attention to __________ cues and less attention to __________ cues.

Accepted Answer

Individuals with social anxiety disorder tend to focus more on internal cues such as their own thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, and less on external cues such as social and environmental factors. This heightened self-focused attention can contribute to feelings of self-consciousness and social anxiety.

Question 9

In regard to panic,the locus coeruleus

Accepted Answer

The locus coeruleus is a part of the brainstem that plays a role in initiating the body's response to stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that in people with panic disorder, the locus coeruleus shows increased activity compared to those without the disorder. This increased activity is associated with the physical symptoms of panic, such as racing heart, sweating, and shortness of breath. Therefore, choice C shows increased activity is the best choice.

Question 10

Both Lindsay and Nicole just completed a solo in a musical competition.The judges awarded them both 9 out of 10.Lindsay has social anxiety disorder and Nicole does not.Based on this information,

Accepted Answer

Given Lindsay's social anxiety disorder, she is more likely to worry about social evaluation and thus may perceive her performance more negatively compared to Nicole, who does not have social anxiety. This can lead Lindsay to think she sang more poorly, despite the equal scores.

Question 11

Panic attacks can be triggered by which of the following?

Accepted Answer

All of the above can trigger panic attacks. Caffeine can stimulate the nervous system, some exercises can trigger the release of adrenaline, and adrenaline itself can cause panic attacks.

Question 12

What is a reason why people typically do not fear coconuts,flowers or strawberries?

Accepted Answer

During evolution, exposure to stimuli like coconuts, flowers, or strawberries was not associated with immediate danger or life-threatening situations, which is why they typically do not evoke fear. This lack of association with danger means there was no evolutionary pressure to develop a fear response to these items.

Question 13

One problem with Mowrer's original two-factor model of phobias is that phobias tend to develop

Accepted Answer

Mowrer's two-factor model suggests that phobias develop through classical conditioning (learning to associate a stimulus with a negative outcome) and are maintained through operant conditioning (avoidance behavior is reinforced because it reduces anxiety). However, one problem with this model is that phobias often develop only in response to certain stimuli (e.g., snakes, heights) and not just any negative experience. This suggests that there are innate predispositions or biases in what can become a phobia, which the original two-factor model does not fully account for.

Question 14

After viewing tapes of monkeys apparently showing fear of snakes,lambs,and flowers,monkeys who viewed these tapes were only fearful of snakes.This provides only partial support for __________ but better support for __________.

Accepted Answer

The partial support for modeling suggests that monkeys do not completely learn fear through observational learning and that there may be some underlying preparedness for certain stimuli. The better support for prepared learning suggests that the monkeys have an innate disposition to learn to fear certain stimuli, such as snakes, due to their evolutionary history.

Question 15

Laboratory studies,like the ones using the dot probe task,have provided evidence for the theory that

Accepted Answer

Laboratory studies, such as the dot probe task, have shown that the way we focus our attention can influence anxious mood. This provides evidence for the theory that cognitive processes play a role in anxiety development and maintenance. Specifically, individuals with anxiety tend to have a bias towards attending to negative or threatening stimuli, leading to increased anxiety and negative cognitions.

Question 16

As opposed to people without a history of panic disorder,those with a history of panic disorder

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that individuals with a history of panic disorder are slower to extinguish their conditioned fears, indicating a greater difficulty in overcoming learned associations with anxiety and fear.

Question 17

Doug was frightened by a rat coming into his bedroom when he was a child,and he now has a rat phobia.However,despite having been severely shocked by putting her finger in an electric outlet,Martha has no fear of sockets.This inconsistency is explained by the theory of

Accepted Answer

Prepared learning theory suggests that humans are biologically prepared to learn certain phobias, such as fear of snakes, spiders, and rats, due to their evolutionary significance as potential threats to survival. Hence, Doug's rat phobia can be explained by prepared learning. On the other hand, Martha's lack of fear towards sockets suggests that electric outlets are not biologically prepared to be significant threats to survival, hence the theory of prepared learning does not apply in her case.

Question 18

According to the cognitive perspective,social anxiety is related to all of the following EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

The cognitive perspective suggests that social anxiety is related to all of the following: unrealistic negative beliefs about the consequences of their social behaviors, attention to how they are doing in social interactions and their own internal sensations, and formation of negative visual images of how others will react to them. Therefore, the correct answer is D, as it does not exclude any of these factors.

Question 19

The second factor of Mowrer's two-factor model explains why

Accepted Answer

The second factor of Mowrer's two-factor model, which involves operant conditioning, explains why a phobia persists (e.g., a man's dog phobia never ceases) because the individual avoids the phobic stimulus, thus reducing fear/anxiety in the short term but maintaining the phobia in the long term.

Question 20

When triggering panic attacks experimentally through the use of drugs,researchers have found that

Accepted Answer

According to the passage, researchers have found that more than a dozen different types of drugs can trigger panic attacks among people with a history of panic attacks. Option A is incorrect as the passage mentions that the drugs produce panic in people with a history of panic attacks more often than in people without a history of panic attacks. Option C is incorrect as the passage does not state that it is "nearly impossible" to replicate the physiological symptoms. Option D is incorrect as the passage does not mention any difference between physiological and emotional symptoms reported by individuals with a history of panic attacks.

Quiz 6: Anxiety Disorders